Right-wing media are using a new report from the Congressional Budget Office to claim that the stimulus "may have cost as much as $4.1 million per job." However, simply dividing the amount of money spent by the number of jobs created is, according to an Associated Press fact check, "highly misleading," and economist Paul Krugman has called this math "bogus." Conservative media regularly use similar calculations to attack jobs initiatives.

Glenn Beck and James Pethokoukis each cited a study by the George C. Marshall Institute to criticize the carbon cap-and-trade system described in President Obama's budget proposal. But neither Beck nor Pethokoukis noted that the Marshall Institute has received funding from ExxonMobil.

A New York Times essay by Jason DeParle highlighted a resurgence of the use of the word "welfare" among conservatives, this time to attack President Obama's economy recovery plan. Indeed, while economists agree that provisions in the legislation targeting needy people are among the most economically stimulative, Media Matters documents below the pervasiveness of what DeParle called the "weaponiz[ation]" of the "very word, welfare," in the media, particularly, but not exclusively on Fox News, to denounce the stimulus bill.

On MSNBC Live, James Pethokoukis claimed that "Senator [John] McCain is not calling for privatizing Social Security. He's talking about perhaps separate accounts, but he's not actually talking about taking your Social Security payments and funneling them in the stock market." In fact, in a March Wall Street Journal interview, McCain reiterated his support for private Social Security accounts that would be funded through existing payroll taxes and could be invested in the stock market.

Right-wing media outlets are parroting the attacks of an anti-LGBTQ hate group on Connecticut’s openly gay comptroller, Kevin Lembo. Lembo recently sent the American Family Association (AFA) a letter asking the group to submit written documentation certifying it complies with the nondiscrimination regulations governing the Connecticut State Employee Campaign for Charitable Giving (CSEC), which allows Connecticut State employees to contribute to qualifying non-profit charities through payroll deductions. Lembo’s office has since been “flooded” with emails and phone calls from AFA supporters.